title: Skin secretion and shedding is a good source for non-destructive genetic sampling in the Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus).
abstract: A non-destructive method of collecting samples for DNA analysis of the Chinese giant salamander is described and validated. DNA was extracted from the skin secretion and shedding using a Chelex-based method, and partial 12S rRNA gene sequences were amplified and sequenced. Sequences from skin secretion and shedding were cross-checked against the reported sequences from liver and were found to be identical. This method provides a non-destructive way of carrying out larger studies of the genetics of rare amphibians and may be of general use for genetic-based field studies of amphibians.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Resource Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Wentao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Mingzhang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ao
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jianwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Longjiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism*; D014562:Caudata / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers